OT: Joe Paterno statue to be taken down this weekend (maybe)

I like the point that it would be a constant security and liability issue.  It would need constant police presence and it's not worth in light of recent developments.

I'm betting it doesn't happen this weekend.  There will be thousands of protestors that get in the way.  This just solidifies the idea that football was everything in Happy Valley.

One of the most undeserved statues I can think of (certainly the most unworthy sports figure). It needs to come down as soon as possible.

No man or legacy is bigger than the legacy of kid's safety.

Now try to come up with some shame, Board of Trustees.

Good. Melt it down and mold it into Sandusky's jail cell bars.

Honestly, after the way this situation has been handled, there really was no right move for the trustees to make.  If they decided to take the statue down after saying "it represented the good JoPa did", then they're "bowing to media pressure".  If they decided to leave it up, they're "idolizing the evil that has gone on at PSU for years".  They dug themselves into a hole with that one.

Someone should create a plaque or something as a tribute* to the victims and surreptitiously affix it to the ground once the statue has been removed (because the administration certainly wouldn't do it). 

Also, I hear the artist who painted the mural of PSU luminaries has first replaced Sandusky with a blue child abuse awareness ribbon, then Dora McQuaid, a PSU grad and advocate for child victims of sexual abuse (along with her handprint and that of one of the victims); removed the halo over Paterno and put a blue ribbon on his jacket; and is thinking of putting a blindfold on former president Graham Spanier. 

*and "tribute" isn't quite the right word, but can't quite come up with it.  Not a memorial b/c they're not dead. 

Everyone knew this thing was going to come down eventually. Timing was the only question.

Appropriateness aside,  I think it's a pretty crappy piece of artwork.  The look on his face is ridiculous.  And why is he giving the "We're number 1" gesture?  Did he normally do that when he ran out of the tunnel?

I think he's telling his team to go for "one" after yet another touchdown against Temple.

Seriously, they are scared stiff that the NCAA is going to charge them with lack of institutional control, one of their biggest alumni backers if the former PA Attorney General and current governor who likely is being investigated discretely to see if he did anything to stop the child rape investigations. They are simply hoping that discarded a bunch of stones will appease everyone and get them to back off. They don't care in the least about a dead man's statue, they want to go back to they way things were and don't realize that they will NEVER be that way again. The days of blind checks are gone, thank goodness. 

Gorden Gee had taken over as decider/PR director at PSU

I think there is something to be said for leaving it in place as a constant reminder to everyone who sees it of what happened when people made the choice to protect the school rather than do what was right.  Could anyone going past that statute ever forget this incident?  Wouldn't it be a constant reminder of how one major misstep can ruin a career?  And a school's reputation?  Remove the statute, and you help to bury the story; leave it alone, and people are reminded of it every time they pass it.  If I were on the PSU board, I would want the statute down for that very reason.  And I agree, it is one crappy piece of sculpture.

how is this even a consideration!!! TAKE IT DOWN!

I remember around the same time as the OSU scandal there was going to be a HUGE story about corruption in a major college football program.  Sure lying/cheating Tressel fell, but OSU was hardly punished and now ends up with arguably a better coach, pretty much in the same or a better position going forward.  No other story came out, but really, after this...can there ever be a HUGE scandal, everything will pale in comparison.

Now with this PSU story, everything else (and deservedly so) is trumped, as this is obviously the worst scandal to ever hit college sports, and maybe all of American sports, given the circumstances (Joe Pa legacy / hypocricy, etc.). 

While it may seem petty at this point, given the PSU victims and the horrendous nature of the crimes, is anyone else annoyed that OSU got off so easy...and now adding in this PSU disaster, their lying cheating ways have been overshadowed to a point of non-issue?

If they don't take it down, man are they going to get sick of cleaning all the crap off of it everytime it gets vandalized. The Paternos are still swearing up and down that Joe was pure as the driven snow, maybe they should put it in their front yard.